As a result of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s appointment of two exarch bishops in Ukraine without any blessing from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved at its extraordinary session today that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will cease commemorating His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople during the Divine Liturgy.

The holy Orthodox Church celebrated the translation of the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky the Grand Prince of Novgorod yesterday. His relics, housed at the Holy Trinity-St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, are among the greatest sacred treasures of the Russian Church in St. Petersburg.

Today, Sept. 10, marks the 75th anniversary of one of history’s greatest examples of community resistance in the face of evil: the courage of Zakynthos.

If this is the first you are hearing of the anniversary, do not feel unaware. If this is the first you have ever heard of the island of Zakynthos, do not think yourself uneducated.

Outside of Greece, too few today can recall the courageous actions taken by this simple fishing island community during World War II. This community did not witness an historic battle. Rather, this Greek Orthodox community gathered together in civil disobedience to save 275 Greek Jews who would have been sent to Auschwitz.